Appeal amasses 40,000 5p pieces!

Friends volunteer Jane Wood was so impressed with the popularity of the 5p campaign that she and her husband thought that it would be nice to give the person who thought of the idea a small present of a 5p piece enclosed in a glass pig!

Jane recently came along to a meeting of the Friends Committee to present the pig to Heather, Chairperson of the Charity, who suggested, at the launch of Friends Diamond Jubilee Appeal, that it would be great if members of the public could donate their small changeto the Appeal. At the time, Heather said “I find 5p pieces to be a bit fiddly and so take them out of my purse and save them up for one thing or another. I am sure that lot’s of people do the same and this would be a way that people can become engaged in the Appeal without making an effort that they might find difficult.” Members of the Blood Taking team built on the idea by offering specimen tubes in which supporters could collect their 5p pieces. Stickers with the Friends logos were applied and the whole idea took off!

Willy Goldschmidt, Vice-Chairman of the Charity, said “the timing of Jane’s gift was superb as we have just passed another milestone in the Appeal which has now received 40,000 5p pieces from the collection drums located in Blood Taking and Out Patients. This equates to £2,000 or nearly 1,000 individual contributions of a pot filled with 5p pieces. Of course members of the public have also deposited other coins and notes in the collection drums and to date we have received over £4,500 this way. The Appeal is going from strength to strength and the Charity has now committed a total of £130,000 to the new Blood Taking Service Project and are in discussions with the Hospital Management team about other projects we can support this year as a result of the success of the Appeal.”